Recycled Packing Peanuts Crafts

July 05, 2016

My tiered birthday or wedding cake gift box actually happened a few months ago when I was cleaning for Passover and trying to get rid of stuff. Of course round cardboard boxes aren't something one should throw out, but as they hadn't been put to use for years I kept eyething them for a possible project. And then, yippee, this cake box using packing peanuts as frosting came to mind, and it was made really in a matter of minutes. I think it took longer to actually heat up the glue gun than to put the pieces together, which was fortunate as there really wasn't any free time for crafting with Passover quickly approaching.

Now several months later, having used this cake three times for various birthdays, I finally got around to adding the little flag bunting, which is the finishing touch that was missing, phew! Follow along as I explain how this cake was made, and don't fret if you don't have any round boxes collecting dust, use your imagination to make your own version with whatever you can find! Square boxes would certainly work too, as would stacking food containers, like cans, that don't necessarily work as boxes. Enjoy!

March 29, 2016

A giant origami clown makes a great decoration for the front door especially for the Jewish month of Adar and the holiday of Purim, and also of course anytime you're expecting guests for a festive occassion of any kind! And just in case you were wondering, my clown also happens to either be a bird dressed like a clown, or a clown dressed like a bird, you decide! Or maybe I could just eliminate the beak and it would be a giant origami clown angel? And can you guess what those ready-made wings were made from? Keep reading for the answer!

March 21, 2016

Giant origami clowns are really quite simple to make and make amazing party decorations, not to mention that they make perfect Purim decorations! I used squares of wrapping paper to make origami clowns that are about 70 cm tall, and just a few of these clowns are enough to add a fun touch to any wall. Add some packing peanuts as buttons and collar, and some patterned paper for shoes, a pom pom and hat trim, and the results are simple adorable! The origami clown is folded initially just like an origami crane (hmmm, I need to try making those from wrapping paper too!) so lets get started! (And in any case I've got to run and make my daughter's Purim costume......)

March 16, 2016

When I received a box filled with packing peanuts I immediately started thinking about how I'd use them for a craft project, and the first thing that came to mind was packing peanut stars. Of course, I actually thought I'd make the entire star out of packing peanuts, but with no real plan in mind, these fun stars are what actually came to be! The stars are quite large (the cardboard circle in the middle is from a family sized frozen pizza package) and fortunately turned out to be pefect decorations for the stage of our community Purim party this week. My only regret is that I only had time to make seven of them, the more the better!

I truly hope that none of you will have a bunch of packing peanuts delivered to your door, but if it does happen, now you'll know how to use them up rather than tossing them, right? As for the remainder of the packing peanuts, I did use a few more for another craft that I'll be sharing with you soon, but I still have quite q few to use up, and I'm thinking they could make great frosting for a large cardboard cake!